Green Daily

If you're a "Living With Ed" die hard, you already know that Ed's green living show was picked up by Planet Green for another exciting and environmentally-friendly season. With the premiere already locked and loaded for October 21st at 9PM EST (that's tomorrow!), I was lucky enough to catch up with Ed for a few minutes to chat about the upcoming season, as well as Ed's green living philosophy.

GD: I heard a rumor that you guys are undergoing some major home renovations. Can you tell us whether or not you'll achieve your dream of living completely off the grid this year?

EB: No, I still can't do it. There's a good side of the problem; there's a lot of shading on my roof. I can never get fully off the grid unless I built a second story because of the shade from my neighbors' houses. But the shade actually keeps the heat off the roof, so that's good.

I've got our energy bill down to about 300 or 400 bucks a year. Now that we have three people in the house and I'm putting about 10,000 miles on my electric car doing speeches, the demand is higher than what it used to be. Even on the grid, the power I've got at my house is completely renewable. For only three cents extra per kilowatt hour, I buy power that comes completely from renewable sources through the LA power grid.

GD: I frequently have to toe the line at my house, trying to reduce our footprint while not going so far as to cause marital unrest. Do you have any general advice for those of us who may be living with a spouse that's not completely on board with our vision of a green, hermit-like lifestyle?

EB: I say, pick your battles. I used to fight on everything that I thought would save energy. Like the rain barrel. Rachelle thought it was ugly, so I said, 'Live to fight another day.' I put the cistern underground where it's not visible. I met Rachelle halfway on a lot of stuff. The same thing with our drought tolerant plants. They used to make my house look abandoned. Now, I've got some help and they look great. She's enriched my life. Before, I didn't care about aesthetics, I think I just wanted to live in an energy-efficient bunker.


GD: Since the economy blew an O-ring last fall, have you noticed a significant change in the green movement?

EB: It's a challenge, but it creates opportunity to do the cheap and easy stuff first. Pick the low hanging fruit. Like what I did in 1970s: weather stripping, home gardening, lighting, taking public transportation, riding a bike when weather permits. It took me 15 years before I could afford any of the expensive upgrades like solar panels.


GD: On a scale from 1 to 10, what stage would you say your conflict with Bill Nye is at right now?

EB: There's a certain détente. There's a demilitarized zone in between his house and mine. I just did a grey water system. So, we'll see what happens with that. Even with three people in my house, I'm using less water.


GD: Can you give GD readers your top three effective yet inexpensive ways to go green at home?

EB: Sure! Check all weather stripping around doors and windows, upgrade to energy-efficient lighting, and installing an energy efficient thermostat. That's all very inexpensive and effective.

Another feel-good thing that's cheap and practical is a home energy audit. In many parts of the country it's free. It gives you a heirarchy so you can prioritize what makes sense to do next. Also, you can get $1,500 assistance from the Obama administration for home energy efficiency tax credits.